Sinker arrangement for warp knitting and raschel machines

ABSTRACT

A warp knitting or Raschel machine for the production of fabrics having incorporated weft of filler threads, with a sinker comb movably mounted above the needles and performing a substantially circular movement in timed relationship with the movements of the thread guides and the needles, respectively, the sinkers thus serving to hold the filler threads in place during the rising movement of the needles.

United States Patent [191 Zwing'enberger et al.

[ Dec. 31, 1974 SINKER ARRANGEMENT FOR WARP KNITTING AND RASCHEL MACHINES [76] Inventors: Arno Zwingenberger, Blumenstr.

15, 8671 Marxgrun, Bayern; Roland Wunner, l-lauptstrasse 30, 8671 Bernstein/Wald, Bayern, both of Germany; Karl Liebrandt, deceased, late of Griesbacher Weg 3, 8674 Naila, Bayern, Germany by Sophia Liebrandt, nee Saalfrank, heir and legal representative; Gunnar Liebrandt, Pitschhausenweg 1a, 8674 Naila, Bayern, Germany heir and legal representative [22] Filed: June 5, 1972 [2]] Appl. No.: 259,785

[52] U.S. Cl 66/84, 66/86, 66/109 [51] Int. Cl. D04b 23/12, D04b 15/06 [58] Field of Search 66/109, 110, 104, 84 R,

66/84 A, 85 R, 86 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,943,468 7/1960 Woollett et al. 66/109 X 3,405,543 lO/1968 Diehl 66/86 R 3,570,269 3/ 1971 Wenrich 66/86 R 3,587,254 6/1971 Kohl 66/86 R 3,707,853 l/l973 Lindner et al. 66/84 R 3,718,010 2/1973 Kohl 66/84 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 223,342 10/1924 Great Britain 66/85 R Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kenneth S Goldfarb [57] ABSTRACT A warp knitting or Raschel machine for the production of fabrics having incorporated weft of filler threads, with a sinker comb movably mounted above the needles and performing a substantially circular movement in timed relationship with the movements of the thread guides and the needles, respectively, the sinkers thus serving to hold the filler threads in place during the rising movement of the needles.

1 Claim, 10 Drawing Figures SHEU i n? 5 minimum; 1 m

rvmmanumw 3.857. 260

SHEET BUY 3 SINKER ARRANGEMENT FOR WARP KNITTING AND RASCHEL MACHINES This invention relates to warp knitting and Raschel machines for producing fabrics having loops in longitudinal direction and weft or filler threads extending over the entire with in transversal direction. Heretofore, it has been very difficult to ensure that the weft is laid immediately adjacent to the last formed loop and held there.

Known warp knitting machines with the knitting implements spring needle, presser and trick plate, operate in such way that the weft or filler, in order to bring it to the back or plain side of the needles, must be transported over the nose of the plate. The weft hereby arrives at a relatively elevated position above the last formed row of loops and may very easily be dragged upward when the needles rise into the thread lapping position. Moreover, the weft may then get on the beard side of the needle and under the beard, causing faults in the fabric and even needle fractures.

Known Raschel machines with the knitting implements latch needles, trick plates with fixed knock-over edge, and sinkers, operate under essentially the same conditions as mentioned above. Here, too, it was difficult to transport the weft over the back of the plate to bring it to the back side of the needles. Heretofore the sinkers, carried by a sinker bar, were mounted on levers having their pivot or bearing below the needles. The sinkers, acting like a Stitch comb, perform a reciprocating movement to hold the loops produced in a position adjacent to the knock-over edge.

It is an object of the invention to eliminate the difficulties and disadvantages of conventional machines and to provide a novel sinker arrangement for warp knitting and Raschel machines which is simple and safe in operation.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a sinker arrangement which provents the weft to engage, at any time during the knitting cycle, the wrong side of the needles.

The principal feature of the invention is to import to the sinkers two independent reciprocating movements, a first mainly horizontal movement in timed relationship with the movement of the thread guides supplying the warp threads, and a second mainly vertical movement in timed relationship with the movement of the needles. The sinkers thus serve to hold the weft or filler in place during the upward movement of the needles.

The sinkers, carried by a sinker bar and forming a sinker comb, may be connected to the guide bar hanger and oscillate in common therewith. Another possivility is to key the sinker comb to a separate swivel shaft journalled on the support carrying the guide bar hanger.

An important feature of the invention is that the sinkers and all actuating and mounting elements associated therewith are arranged in the space above the needles. This positively avoids any disturbances and interferences to be expected with conventional sinker arrangements journalled below the needles and simplifies the realization of the combined sinker movement.

Other object and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments using slide needles, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows the knitting implements with the thread guides in the overlap position and the sinker comb keyed to the shaft of'the guide bar hanger;

FIGS. 2 9 show consecutive positions of sinker comb and knitting implements during a knitting cycle;

FIG. 10 shows the sinker comb journalled independently of the guide bar suspension.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a detail of a knitting machine of generally conventional construction. The knitting implements comprise bearded needles l to be closed by slides 2 and carried by mountings l and 2' on needle bars, not shown. The rows ofthread guides 3 are shown, fastened to their respective guide bars 5 by mountings 4. The thread guides 3 feed the warp threads 7 to the bearded needles 1 which form loops, into which the weft or filler threads 8, coming from the right, are simultaneously incorporated. The weft or filler threads 8 are fed by weft carriers known per se (not shown) and laid over the entire with of the fabric 9 under production. For receiving the weft and knocking-over of the loops, there are provided knockover or trick plates 10 carried by a support 11. A knock-over sheet 12 is mounted at the back side of the support and provides the knock-over edge of the trick plate. The guide bars 5 are secured to supporting rods 6 on the guide bar hanger 13, which is keyed to the swivel shaft 16 journalled on the support 13'. The hanger is actuated by a driving lever 14 and a rod 15 geared to the machine drive, not shown. The guide bars thus perform a reciprocating movement through consecutive position shown in FIGS. 2-9.

The sinker comb consists of a plurality of sinkers 18 secured to the bar 20 by mountings 19. According to the invention, the bar 20 is carried, by means of screwed-in guiding bolts 21, by a supporting arm 22 keyed to the swivel shaft 16 of the guide bar hanger 13. The guiding bolts 21 slide in ball-bearing sleeves 23. The sinker comb is thus reciprocated jointly with the guide bar hanger. Furthermore, the sinker comb performs a reciprocating movement up and down. To achieve that, the sinker bar 20 carries a small bearing block 24 to which is hinged a link 25 connected with a lever 26 keyed to the shaft 27. A lever 28 and a rod 29, geared to the machine drive, not shown, impart a swinging motion to the shaft 27.

According to the principal feature of the invention, the sinkers l8 perform a combined movement similar to a circular or orbital movement, as can be seen from FIGS. 2 9. The thread guides 3, starting in the overlap position of the guide bar (FIG.- 2), pass through the row of bearded needles 1 to the underlap position (FIGS. 3 and 4). After having been passed by the thread guides, the needles start to fall (FIG. 4). As the supporting arm 22 is connected with the guide bar hanger 13, the sinkers 18 also swing in direction of the underlap side. Simultaneously with the falling of the needles, the sinkers l8 follow the needle movement from their upper position, as shown in FIGS. 5 8. As soon as the sinkers have reached their final position (FIG. 9), the needles 1 start to rise again. The weft 8 now is placed, as shown in FIG. 9, quite in the rear of the trick plate 10 near the knock-over edge of the sheet 12 and as far as knitting technique is concerned may be efficiently tied into the fabric because the sinkers hold it on the trick plate and on the back side of the bearded needles when these start to rise. When the guide bars 3 swing back, the

sinkers are simultaneously moved upward and the cycle is repeated.

H6. shows an embodiment of the invention in which the sinker bar 17 swings independently of the guide bar hanger 13. The sinker bar is mounted on a separate swivel shaft 31 journalled on the support 13 of the guide bar hanger and actuated by a driving lever 32 and a rod 33.As in the embodiment of FIG. 1, a swivel shaft 27 is provided for the vertical movement. The drive is effected by a link 25, two swinging levers 26, 28 and a rod 29 geared to the machine drive, not shown.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and that various changes and substi tutions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A warp knitting or Raschel machine comprising a row of vertical needles, a plurality of vertical needles, a plurality of thread guides for supplying warp thread to said needles, means for feeding weft or filler thread to said needles for producing knitted fabric, said weft or filler thread extending over the entire width of the machine, and means for reciprocating said needles mainly vertically and said thread guides mainly horizontally during a knitting cycle, a sinker arrangement comprising a plurality of' sinkers movably mounted above said needles and capable of performing a substantially circular or orbital movement, and means for moving said sinkers horizontally in timed relationship with the movement of said thread guides, and vertically in timed relationship with the movement of said needles, the sinkers thus performing said substantially circular or orbital movement serving to hold said weft or filler thread in place during the rising movement of the 

1. A warp knitting or Raschel machine comprising a row of vertical needles, a plurality of vertical needles, a plurality of thread guides for supplying warp thread to said needles, means for feeding weft or filler thread to said needles for producing knitted fabric, said weft or filler thread extending over the entire width of the machine, and means for reciprocating said needles mainly vertically and said thread guides mainly horizontally during a knitting cycle, a sinker arrangement comprising a plurality of sinkers movably mounted above said needles and capable of performing a substantially circular or orbital movement, and means for moving said sinkers horizontally in timed relationship with the movement of said thread guides, and vertically in timed relationship with the movement of said needles, the sinkers thus performing said substantially circular or orbital movement serving to hold said weft or filler thread in place during the rising movement of the needles. 